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January 9, 2004

Bathhouse chain gave $250,000 for HRC’s building

Cleveland branch owner added another $50,000

by Anthony Glassman

Washington, D.C.--When the Human Rights Campaign dedicated their
new headquarters on October 11, 2003, the owners of the Club bathhouse
chain knew their money had gone to a good home.

The board of directors of the chain, which has locations in both Cleveland
and Columbus as well as seven other cities outside of Ohio, had pledged
$250,000 to HRC’s building fund a month earlier.

In addition, Raymond Wolf, one of the owners, had donated an additional
$50,000 out of his own pocket.

“I’m proud of [the donations], and proud of him,” said David Peifer,
another owner of Club Cleveland.

The quarter-million dollar donation was agreed upon at a semi-annual
meeting of the board in September, and announced publicly on January 5.
Peifer said that the management had been too busy in the last few months
to publicize the donation before now.

The donations, however, are not something new to the chain.

“Pretty much everything that’s in the community, we give money to every
year,” Peifer said, noting that AIDS service organizations and LGBT community
centers are the top priority in any city that has a Club.

In addition to the donations for the new building, for which the HRC
raised $25 million, Club Cleveland sponsors the HRC Cleveland annual
banquet. Peifer was not sure whether Club Columbus sponsored the HRC dinner
there.

Wolf is also a major regular donor to HRC, and has been on the Federal
Club Council for the last ten years.

“Frank November, David Posteraro and Tim Downing talked to me about it,”
he said of the chain’s donation, referring to three HRC leaders. Wolf
made the presentation at the shareholder meeting, and the vote for the
donation was unanimous.

Wolf also threw a fundraiser at his Gates Mills home, leading at least
one other donor to pledge $50,000, in addition to a number of smaller
pledges.

“From the beginning, when Jack Campbell owned the Clubs, he was involved
in the Mattachine Society and High Gear,” Wolf said. “It’s an obligation
as far as I’m concerned.”

High Gear was a monthly newspaper published by the Cleveland Lesbian-Gay
Center’s forerunner from 1975 to 1986. Mattachine was the nation’s first
long-standing gay organization, from 1950 to the 1970s.

The economic downturn, which has hit non-profit organizations especially
hard, has resulted in fewer financial difficulties for the Clubs.

“We have been flat for the last three years,” Wolf noted, “but we still
keep our donations up.”

He also said that Club Cleveland, which opened its new Detroit Ave. facility
last March, had shown an increase in business, unlike its sister locations.

Man
and woman still can’t marry

Appeals court upholds decision to
deny marriage to a TG man

by Eric Resnick

Warren, Ohio--An appeals court has upheld the denial of a marriage
license to a heterosexual couple because the groom-to-be is transsexual.

Writing for a three-judge panel of the Eleventh Ohio District Court of
Appeals, Judge Diane V. Grendell agreed with Trumbull County Probate Judge
Thomas A. Swift that to grant the marriage license to Jacob B. Nash and
Erin A. Barr of Warren would violate Ohio’s “clear public policy” against
same-sex marriages.

Grendell cited overturned opinions, dissenting opinions, an advisory
opinion and the yet-to-be-passed Ohio “defense of marriage act” to justify
the decision. None of these carry any force of law in an appeals court.

The couple will either ask to have the case heard “en banc” by the entire
six-judge court, or appeal directly to the Ohio Supreme Court, their attorney
Randi A. Barnabee of Northfield Center said.

The 2-1 decision was rendered December 31. Administrative judge Donald
R. Ford concurred with Grendell with a separate opinion. Judge Judith
A. Christley objected with a dissenting opinion. Oral argument was held
in the matter on October 22.

Nash and Barr made two attempts to get the license in 2002 and were twice
denied by Swift.

Nash was born female. The state of Massachusetts corrected his birth
certificate to show he is male upon completion of reassignment surgery.

Swift only knew Nash is transsexual because he granted Nash’s name change
from Pamela to Jacob in 1999.

Ohio is one of only three states that deny post-operative transsexuals
the right to correct their birth certificates.

Grendell is a former Republican member of the Ohio House known for being
socially conservative. She is married to current Rep. Tim Grendell, a
staunch DOMA supporter who took his wife’s seat when term limits prevented
her from seeking re-election.

Nash and Barr argued that the probate court was wrong to hold their application
to a higher standard than others seeking to marry.

During earlier hearings, it was established that Swift typically requires
couples only to show a drivers license, but Nash was required to produce
the corrected birth certificate. The court was already in possession of
Nash’s uncorrected birth certificate, which was voided and sealed by Massachusetts
for the purpose of the name change.

Nash and Barr also said Swift was wrong not to grant full faith and credit
to the corrected birth certificate as the U.S. Constitution requires.

Grendell said the additional documentation required for Nash did not
violate the couple’s right to equal protection because the court had reason
to believe their case was different.

“[The court] was treating like cases alike and unlike cases accordingly,”
wrote Grendell. “The court cannot be expected to turn a blind eye to evidence
that comes before it that could possibly foreclose the issuance of a marriage
license . . . In other words, this case was not the usual
case and the court was required to treat this case accordingly.”

Grendell cited ten times to the 1987 In re Ladrach advisory opinionfrom Stark County. That opinion, which has been cited in cases nationwide
because of the lack of case law pertaining to transsexuals, suggests that
sex is irreversibly tied to chromosome composition and that it is the
responsibility of the legislature to amend Ohio’s marriage law if it wants
transsexuals to able to marry someone of the “same biological sex.”

Noting that Grendell did not distinguish the Ladrach citings as
advisory in her opinion, Barnabee said, “Citing to advisory opinions is
not permitted in Ohio at the appellate level.”

“This decision may have raised the stature of Ladrach because
it is an appellate decision,” said Barnabee, “but it did so without scrutinizing
Ladrach.

Grendell also cited a dissenting opinion by U.S. Supreme Court Chief
Justice William Rehnquist in a case describing how states should form
public policy, and three times to Ohio Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Lundberg
Stratton’s dissenting opinion in the 2002 In re Bicknell case involving
a lesbian couple’s changing of their last name.

“Since the statutory language [defining marriage] in question was enacted
in the 1900s, without change,” wrote Grendell, “it cannot be argued that
the term ‘male’ as used at that time, included a female-to-male post-operative
transsexual.”

Grendell also cited the 1984 U.S. Court of Appeals decision Ulane
v. Eastern Airlines which states that Congress had a narrow definition
of sex in mind when it passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act, therefore, transsexuals
are not covered by Title VII of that law.

That interpretation was overturned in 2002 in U.S. district court in
Cleveland in the case of Susan Myers v. United Consumer Financial Services.
A U.S. district court in New York also overturned Ulane in September
2003.

Grendell also cited Ohio House Bill 272, the so-called “defense of marriage
act” as a reason to deny the marriage. The bill was passed by the House
December 10, but has not moved in the Senate or been signed by the
governor, and as such, is not an Ohio law.

In her dissenting opinion, Christley wrote, “A person reading the above
examples of legislation and judicial decision making would be appalled
at the generalizations and outright ignorance used by courts and legislatures
to justify obviously unconstitutional laws.”

New board takes office

Following the Cincinnati Gay and Lesbian Community
Center’s elections during the general membership meeting on December 30,
the board of directors is now Harold Keutzer, Bill Abney, Dennis Weiskop,
Troy Henson, Tim Hittle, Pixie Pierce, Dawn Forte and Gay Gard.

Keutzer, Henson and Pierce were reelected, while Weiskop, Forte and Gard
are new board members.

On January 3, the board voted on positions. Keutzer remains the board
president, and Henson retains the position of vice president. Pierce and
Hittle continue on as secretary and treasurer, respectively.

Newcomer Gard will chair the Fundraising Committee, and Abney will head
the Programs and Volunteers committees. Forte will serve under Pierce
on the Facilities committee, and Weiskop will head a new ad-hoc committee.

“With added board members, it makes it easier to get the work done,”
board VP Henson said. “Also, with the more equitable representation of
women on the board, it will bring more diversity.”

Board president Keutzer echoed the sentiment.

“We are lucky to have such a diverse group for 2004,” he said. “They
will be a perfect fit as the center continues to grow.”

On Monday, January 12, the Cincinnati GLBT Center will screen the queer
film Under One Roof as part of its “Monday Movie Night” program.
The United Parenting Group, formed last July, continues to meet, as does
the Cincinnati Youth Group and the men’s and women’s interactive groups.

For more information about all of the center’s programs, log onto www.glbtcentercincinnati.com.

--Anthony Glassman

Lakewood council asks mayor to remove Pride flagpole

by Anthony Glassman

Lakewood, Ohio--City council voted 6‑0 on January 5
to ask the mayor to remove a flagpole installed last June to fly a rainbow
gay pride flag. The pole was put up in front of City Hall in a compromise
with those opposed to flying the flag.

Last June, council approved a resolution to fly the rainbow flag in front
of City Hall in honor of the Cleveland Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
Pride festival. After a groundswell of opposition arose, then-Mayor Madeline
Cain had the second pole installed to allay concerns about having it on
the same pole as the U.S. flag.

City officials at the time called it a “community flagpole.”

Councilmember Dennis Dunn, who sponsored the June resolution, was absent
from the January 5 meeting.

The resolution to remove the second pole was introduced by freshman councilmember
Ryan Demro, who said during his campaign that he would have voted against
allowing the rainbow flag to fly over City Hall. Demro drew criticism
during the campaign when he sponsored a proposal at his local Episcopal
church to dissociate itself from the national organization over the ascension
of an openly gay bishop.

Council’s resolution calls for the secondary pole to be moved to the
city’s refuse plant on Berea Rd., or to a location of now-Mayor Thomas
George’s choosing. It also bars any flag other than the United States
one from flying on it.

George did not return calls for comment, but told the daily Plain
Dealer he would comply with the resolution.

In addition to the national flag, the main flagpole at City Hall also
flies the black and white prisoner of war/missing in action flag. The
resolution passed by city council does not refer directly to the main
flagpole although it does state, “the installation of a flagpole for
the for the purpose of allowing community groups to fly flags that represent
their particular interest raises significant concerns regarding civil
rights and municipal priorities.”

Lakewood is an inner-ring suburb of Cleveland, where Mayor Jane Campbell
has flown the rainbow flag above City Hall on Pride Day for the last two
years without incident.

Iowa
judge changes divorce to termination of civil union

by Anthony Glassman

Sioux City, Iowa--The judge who in November granted a divorce
to a lesbian couple with a Vermont civil union has modified his decree,
specifying that he has terminated a civil union.

District Judge Jeffrey Neary drew an immediate challenge
after signing a divorce decree for Kimberly J. Brown and Jennifer Perez
on November 14. Neary did not realize the decree was for two women until
after he signed it, but stood by his decision, arguing that he was simply
providing judicial relief in a matter brought before him.

Conservatives, led by a former legislator and current president of the
Iowa Family Policy Center, had filed a request with the state supreme
court to overturn the decree, arguing that the state doesn’t recognize
same-sex marriages or civil unions, and Neary therefore had no authority
to dissolve one.

Neary’s amended decision admitted that his court did not have authority
to grant a divorce from a civil union, but argued that the judge did have
the authority over the status of the women, who are residents of Sioux
City. The decision declared them free of obligations to each other.

But the conservative groups will not rescind their request to the state’s
top court.

“He has accomplished through the back door which he himself determined
he couldn’t accomplish through the front door,” Timm Reid, a lawyer for
the anti-gay Iowa Liberty and Justice Center, told the Des Moines Register.
“We don’t believe that the amended decree makes any legitimate difference.”

Vermont’s civil union law, passed in 2000 after the state’s supreme court
ruled that it was unconstitutional to deny same-sex couples the benefits
of marriage, is only valid in that state. While there is no residency
requirement to enter into a civil union, at least one of the partners
must be a legal resident of Vermont for one year to dissolve one.

Last spring, a judge in Texas dissolved a civil union, but retracted
his decision under pressure from the state’s attorney general.

According to New York’s Gay City News, a 2002 civil union divorce
granted by a West Virginia judge went apparently unchallenged. The judge
in the case, noting that the Vermont law specifically states that it is
not marriage, said, “The parties are citizens of West Virginia in need
of judicial remedy to dissolve a legal relationship created by the laws
of another state.”

Neary cited the U.S. Constitution’s “full faith and credit” clause as
one of the factors leading him to believe he had the authority to end
a civil union. The clause reads, “Full Faith and Credit shall be given
in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of
every other State.”

The clause enables, for instance, a driver in one state to have his or
her license recognized when he or she drives in another state.

Some legal scholars believe that so-called “defense of marriage” laws,
which allow states to deny recognition of same-sex marriages performed
in other states, violate the “full faith and credit” language.

That argument cannot be tested in court until a state actually begins
granting same-sex marriages, since civil union laws like Vermont’s would
only apply within the state passing them.

Lebanese in leisurewear?

The L Word gets set to even the score

by Anthony Glassman

The old aphorism claiming that lightning does not strike twice in the
same place will be put to the test on Sunday, January 18, as Showtime
debuts The L Word.

Basically an attempt to do for the lesbian community what Queer as
Folk did for the boys, The L Word leaps out of the gate with
a one-two punch, to mix the sports metaphors.

First, the pilot is directed by power-player Rose Troche, director of
the indie classic Go Fish. Second, the cast of up-and-comers have
far more credits, and credibility, than their counterparts on Queer
as Folk did going into their pilot.

The plot, much like on the sister series, is relatively simple. Lesbian
couple Bette (Jennifer Beals, best known for her star turn in Flashdance)
and Tina (Laurel Holloman, Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls
in Love) are trying to have a baby. Their plan is put in double jeopardy
when their artist friend who is donating sperm turns out to be shooting
blanks and it seems they might not be ready for a child anyway.

Next door to the less-than-blissful couple, Tim (Eric Mabius, The
Crow III: Salvation) awaits the arrival of his girlfriend Jenny (Mia
Kirshner, The Crow: City of Angels), who has just graduated from
college, received a highly-prized writing award and is ready for life
in the real world. Throwing a kink into their plans for domestic bliss,
however, is Jenny’s growing attraction to exotic coffee shop owner Marina
(Karina Lombard, Legends of the Fall), whose life seems inextricably
linked to Jenny’s.

The dramatis personae are rounded out by Bette and Tina’s friends
and family, a far more diverse crowd than was comprised by the nerd, the
geek, the flamer and the slut in Queer as Folk.

There’s Dana (Erin Daniels, One Hour Photo), a closeted lesbian
tennis player whose beard and doubles partner is even gayer than she is;
Shane (Katherine Moennig, The Shipping News), the resident tramp,
making her way through Los Angeles one broken-hearted dyke at a time,
and bisexual journalist Alice, played by Leisha Hailey of the rock bands
The Murmurs and Gush, whose first album will be out next year.

Of course, the jewel in the show’s crown is Bette’s half-sister, the
luscious jazz chanteuse Kit Porter (Pam Grier, who played a lesbian cop
in John Carpenter’s The Ghosts of Mars, a transsexual in Escape
from L.A., and a tough-as-nails woman in just about everything else,
including Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown). She swoops in, trailing
drama behind her and dispensing wisdom to her sister like a Motown-induced
Yoda.

Of course, more important than spouting plot or reciting the curricula
vitae of the cast and crew is the simple question: Is it good?

The answer is also simple: Yes.

One might go so far as to say that it’s very good. Queer as Folk
was aptly criticized as a thinly-veiled attempt at marketing soft-core
gay pornography. But The L Word, while containing more than its
fair share of lesbian love scenes, seems less like an excuse for nudity
and is simply enhanced by it.

The sex might also stave off some criticisms of the pure, uh, lipstickosity
of the cast. Pam Grier is probably the butchest-looking cast member (with
the exception of the men), and her character appears in the pilot to be
heterosexual.

All the female characters look like they came from Coupling. In
the actors’ performances, however, sexual dynamics and gender identities
become more diverse, more fully-formed. Shane seems like she would be
more at home under a car than in a café, for instance, with the studied
swagger of the most practiced butch. Bette is the perfect power-suit-wearing
soft butch, while Tina has the gentler edges, both physically and in her
personality. Dana is total sports-dyke, fooling nobody but herself with
her public displays of heterosexuality, then wondering why she can’t find
a woman.

Still, would it kill the hairstylists to have one little mullet? One
woman with certifiably short hair? One gal who doesn’t seem to know what
“product” is?

The show is cleverly written by Ilene Chaiken, who lives with her partner
and their two daughters in Los Angeles. At times, it comes off more as
a lesbian Friends than Queer as Folk, a warm look at life
in a place with everything is highly superficial, a veneer masquerading
as life.

The question arises whether horny heterosexual males will tune in for
the sex scenes, while lesbians across the country watch for the plot.
If that is what happens, fine, as long as the show gets the ratings it
deserves. It might even out-perform its big brother, which would be interesting.
The Lesbian Chic of the ’90s could well turn into the ratings powerhouse
of the new millennium.